A wide variety of devices and systems have been proposed for organizing and storing business cards. Many business people receive a number of business cards from a variety of sources as they conduct their business activities. For many people, the business cards are simply dropped in a drawer or left in a pile somewhere on or in a desk, the information on the cards thus being available only with some searching and effort. Other times a business card will be taped in a particular location, such as a file, a personal planner, etc. While this makes the information on the card available when that particular file or planner is being used, the information is not otherwise available or readily at hand, since the business card is essentially a "one use" device--i.e., it presents information in only one place.
One solution proposed for handling business cards is a business card folder or notebook containing, for example, pages of transparent pockets into which cards may be inserted. While these types of organizers can be used to organize the cards, they again present the information only in one place. Many business people do not find the time to maintain such dedicated card organizers. Even with such an organizer, if one needs the information to be available in more than one location, it must be manually copied from the business card to, e.g., a contact list in a personal planner, personal phone list, a file folder, etc.
Business people who work out of more than one office (e.g., either branch locations or even a home office) also experience frustration in not having business card information readily available at each of their office locations. Unless they are very conscientious about maintaining a business card organizer and keeping it with them at all times, they often will find that the information they need is on a business card located at one of their other offices.